Thursday, March 31, 2005

Corruptastic

President-for-life Mugabe is not blinking. In a last ditch effort to destroy the opposition, he's unfurled a campaign of bribery, voter fraud, and empty promises that would make any aspiring politician green with envy. One such promise: a tenfold increase in the minimum wage for household servants. TENFOLD. Also, here's a snippet from Indy about how the conditions on the ground are going to look for the election:Earlier this year, the government passed a law that allows the military and security services to act as election officials, manning polling station and supervising the vote count.

"Can you imagine how a voter is going to feel, walking into a polling station and seeing the army and police standing at the door," asked Shari Eppel, a human rights worker for Zimbabwe-based Solidarity Peace Trust. "It does nothing to convince people this election will be free and fair."

As for international election monitors, Mugabe has banned both the EU and the US from sending anyone, probably to cover his own rear-end from any sort of Ukraine or Kyrgyzstan situation happening. Who is he allowing? South African monitors, whose President Mbeki has already declared that he thinks the election will be free and fair, and a handful of other friends who will turn a blind eye to whatever happens. Rascalism at its finest. Let's hope Archbishope Mcube throws the bullshit flag, and someone in the US or EU cares enough to back him up.